How to Train a High Prey Drive Dog: Work With the Drive, Not Against It
Training isn’t gonna take the urge to chase out of your dog, but it can change what your dog does about it. This is the order I’d go in. First, stop your dog from getting to practice chases you don’t control. Then give them a chase they’re allowed to have, and for me that’s a structured flirt pole game. After that, build waits and “leave it” while they’re worked up, and only then practice around real squirrels and cats, from a distance your dog can handle.
By Christopher Lee Moran, dog trainer, about 10 years with dogs and around 400 client dogs, a lot of them dogs other trainers had given up on · Updated October 2026
What prey drive actually is
The AKC explains that dogs share the wolf’s hardwired predatory sequence: spotting prey, then stalking, chasing, attacking, and consuming. Not every breed shows the whole thing. Herding breeds like the Border Collie, for example, tend to show the early parts most strongly. Retrievers, on the other hand, were bred to bring birds back in one piece. And what sets all of them off is movement.
So no, your dog isn’t being stubborn when they lock onto a squirrel, they’re doing what they were built for. The AKC’s advice lines up with mine too, which is instead of fighting that, put yourself or a toy in place of the prey.
The plan, step by step
- Stop the free chases. Every squirrel your dog chases on their own is practice you never wanted them to get, so outside that means a leash or a long line, and please don’t open the back door into a yard full of squirrels. The AKC suggests saving the yard for potty breaks while you train.
- Give a chase on your terms. Teach the wait and the drop-it first with a toy while your dog is calm, and then add a short, structured flirt pole session, but only if your dog settles easy after. The way I’d run it is a wait before each chase, the lure low, a catch every few rounds, a drop-it, and a clear all-done. Ten minutes is plenty for a lot of adult dogs, and the full session guide has the details.
- Build self-control while your dog is excited. That wait before each chase and the drop-it after each catch are impulse control, practiced while your dog is all fired up, and that’s exactly when they need it. I’d start with a 2-second wait and build from there. For more drills, try these impulse control exercises.
- Teach “watch me” and “leave it” separately. Do it inside first with nothing going on, then the yard, then a quiet street, and pay every single win.
- Practice near real triggers, from a distance. Find the spot where your dog can see the squirrel but can still take a treat and look back at you, and start there, and only move closer as your dog gets better at looking away. The AKC even suggests using the critter as the reward: after your dog looks away on cue, let it look at the animal again, on leash and never chasing.
A realistic word on recall
This is the part nobody likes hearing. A dog that drops a flirt pole lure when you ask hasn’t learned to come away from a live rabbit. That takes its own slow practice and some dogs never get there, so I wouldn’t call “come” when you know the squirrel is gonna win. As the AKC puts it, that only teaches your dog that cues are optional. I’d just walk over and clip the leash on until your recall holds up around that trigger.
Why the flirt pole is the center of the plan
A lot of high prey drive dogs aren’t short on exercise, they’re missing a chase they’re allowed to finish. A walk gives them movement and a hundred things to stare at, and fetch gives them running. A flirt pole is different cause they get to stalk, chase, catch and hold, and you decide when each part starts and stops.
That’s really the point of it. Once you’re where the best chase of the day comes from, your dog has a reason to check in with you when something moves.
Is your dog wired all the time? Some high-drive dogs run hot even lying down. With those dogs I’d start with calm sniff walks on a long line in quiet places and keep chase games really short and slow. If your dog gets more frantic during flirt pole play instead of more focused, stop right there and make the next one shorter.
The pole I’d use with a high-drive dog
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Prey drive by breed
Drive varies a lot inside every breed, and a high-drive Lab mix can need the same plan as a high-drive Malinois. Breed still shapes how it shows up though.
Belgian Malinois prey drive
These dogs tend to go hard from start to finish and grip hard too, and honestly what they need more than extra exercise is self-control work, like waits and drop-its and settling down after play. See flirt pole training for German Shepherds and Malinois.
Border Collie prey drive
Mostly the front end of the sequence, the stare and the stalk, so I’d use a lot of pauses and changes of direction, and watch for locking onto shadows or lights cause that one needs a vet. See the Border Collie routine.
Boxer prey drive
A lot of times it’s a bouncy chase and then a grab and a shake, so I’d get a solid drop-it early. Keep the lure low so jumping doesn’t turn into the game, and keep sessions short when it’s hot cause Boxers are short-nosed.
Other breed groups
- Terriers and bully breeds: strong grab and shake, so give them extra drop-it practice. See pit bulls and power breeds.
- Sighthounds like Greyhounds and Whippets have a huge chase, and off leash around small animals might never be safe with them, so I’d just plan on managing that for life.
- Retrievers and spaniels: usually chase, then carry. Fetch with two toys suits them, and so does a flirt pole.
When to get professional help
If your dog is stalking kids or other pets, separate them right now, doors, gates, a leash or a crate, whatever works, and they don’t get left together without you watching. Then I’d get a qualified trainer or veterinary behaviorist to look at your dog, and the same goes if your dog has injured or killed an animal or goes after livestock. You’ll also hear some trainers say “predatory drift” for play between a big dog and a small dog that suddenly turns serious. That’s not a formal diagnosis, but I’d still keep dogs that are really different in size apart when they play.
And the basics don’t change. Play on grass and not concrete, keep the turns wide, and when it’s hot go early in the day. With puppies it’s gentle slow drags only, and the fast chasing waits till your vet says the growth plates have closed.
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Quick answers
Can you train prey drive out of a dog?
Not really. Training can change how your dog responds, but nobody can promise you the urge to chase goes away, so what you train is control, like when your dog gets to chase, what they get to chase and how fast they let go and come back to you.
Does prey drive decrease with age?
It a lot of times gets stronger through the teenage stage as a dog gets faster and more sure of itself, and plenty of dogs mellow some as adults. But honestly I think habits matter more than age. A dog that’s practiced chasing for years keeps doing it unless you train something else in its place.
Will a flirt pole make my dog’s prey drive worse?
It can if it’s just endless chasing with no rules, that winds a dog up. A session with structure goes the other way though. You’ve got waits and catches and drop-its and a clear ending, so the drive gets out and your dog is practicing control the whole time.
Which breeds have the highest prey drive?
A lot of times it’s herding breeds, shepherds and Malinois, terriers, bully breeds and sighthounds, but dogs vary a lot within every breed and a mixed breed can be just as driven.
Can a high prey drive dog live with a cat?
Some can, with slow introductions, barriers and close supervision, ideally with a professional helping, and some never can. Till you’re sure I’d keep them apart any time you can’t watch and give the cat ways to get away that your dog can’t get to.
How do I stop my dog from chasing squirrels?
I’d start by stopping the free chases with a leash or a long line, and then give your dog a structured chase every day with a flirt pole and teach “watch me” and “leave it.” After that you practice far enough from squirrels that your dog can still look back at you.
Give the drive a job you control.
Try it for 30 days. If it isn’t a fit for your dog, email me for a refund, and you cover return shipping unless the pole failed. I’m a one-man company and I want you happy with it, so I’ll work with you.
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Based on my own experience training dogs. Not veterinary or behavioral medical advice. Exercise disclaimer.
